Molecular evolution

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/molecular-evolution

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Molecular evolution?Mid-20th century, with key contributions from Linus Pauling and Emile Zuckerkandl
2. What is the scientific field?Molecular evolution
3. What is the applications?Phylogenetics, medicine (disease tracking, drug development), conservation, forensics, agriculture, and bioinformatics
4. How do mutations drive molecular evolution?Mutations are random changes in DNA, from single letters to big rearrangements. Some mutations give an advantage, so they become more common in a population.
5. Why is gene duplication important?When a gene copies itself, one copy can keep its original job while the other can try new functions. This creates new genes and helps life become more diverse.

Allele Frequencies: How common different versions of a gene are within a population.
Molecular Clock: A method that estimates the time of evolutionary divergence between species using DNA or protein sequences.
Phylogenetics: The study of evolutionary relationships and the reconstruction of evolutionary trees.
Speciation: The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.